Our People

Pentecost Sunday 2008

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Venerable Edel Quinn, Legion of Mary

By Most Rev. Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
11/5/2008

Would the Gospel had been preached without the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost?

At the Ascension the Lord gave the great commission to his disciples: “Go out to all the world ... ” (Mark 16:15).

But first he told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait until they “were clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). It is interesting that he commanded them thus. We are reminded of the words chosen by Pope Benedict for the World Youth Day, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

The Lord knew that the apostles needed the power of the Holy Spirit in them in order to be able to effectively proclaim the Gospel and be witnesses to him before the world.

The account of St Luke about what happen at Pentecost morning reveals this most strikingly. Following the coming of the Spirit, St Peter opened the doors of the upper room and spoke boldly to the crowds gathered outside: “I want to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified. He is risen. God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). He then proceeded to explain the whole plan and purpose of God in the sending of his Son.

St Luke tells us that the people were “cut to the heart”, and three thousand were baptised that day.

The Gospel was preached under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the Church was born. Without the coming of the Spirit there would be no Church. Indeed, over the ages the great impetus to evangelisation has been through the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to the words of Pope Paul VI in his monumental work on evangelisation, Evangelii Nuntiandi,

It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization: it is He who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood. But it can equally be said that He is the goal of evangelization: He alone stirs up the new creation, the new humanity of which evangelization is to be the result, with that unity in variety which evangelization wishes to achieve within the Christian community. Through the Holy Spirit the Gospel penetrates to the heart of the world, for it is He who causes people to discern the signs of the times- signs willed by God- which evangelization reveals and puts to use within history. (n. 75)

Edel Quinn was clearly an evangelist, living and acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Sent to East and Central Africa as an envoy for the Legion of Mary, she worked with extraordinary faith over a period of eight years, until tuberculosis took its final toll and she died in Nairobi at the young age of thirty-six.

Edel was a devoted Legionary. In her heart was a contemplative vocation, which only her poor health prevented from realising, but once she met the Legion she found a new expression of a vocation to be given over completely to God.

Her faith was deeply Eucharistic. She once said, “What a desolation life would be without the Eucharist”. Every Catholic builds their life around their Eucharistic Lord. The risen Christ is our bread of life, the nourishment of our souls! The apostle is grounded in his or her loving devotion to Christ. Listen again to the words of Edel, “We want to be united with him, to give ourselves to Him utterly”.

Her faith was beautifully Marian (as one would expect of a Legionary). She had extraordinary trust in Our Lady. She entrusted her life and mission to her. In face of difficulties her confidence in Our Lady was unwavering, “Why can’t we trust Our Lady”, she would say. Today, on this feast of Pentecost, we are aware that Our Lady was present with the apostles in the Upper Room, and received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit herself.

One of the qualities particularly evident in Edel was that of Joy. The Vicar General of Mauritius commented, “I want to lay special emphasis on her constant joy; she was always smiling; she never complained; she was always at people’s disposal, never stinting her time”. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, St Paul tells us. A person who is living a full life in the Spirit will be full of joy. Such joy is the great witness to God. It is infectious and attractive. It is a supernatural witness to the authenticity of our message.

Today we contemplate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Church and the beginning of the great work of proclaiming Christ to the ends of the earth. Edel is a witness to us of being a Catholic filled with the Spirit and inspired to proclaim the Gospel. We can ask her intercession today that we too may receive the great gift of the Holy Spirit, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, be witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth.